It wasn’t easy, but Brian and I sorted through all of our
personal belongings and boat gear and managed to pack just 128
pounds of stuff to fly with us to France. We also included Brian’s
bicycle and stuffed the bicycle shipping box full of whatever we
could. PHEW! This brings a whole new meaning to our already
minimalist lifestyle!

We had a smooth flight on Norwegian Air from JFK
with one layover in London and finally landed in Nice, France. For
those of you tossing around the idea of visiting us in Europe,
Norwegian has excellent rates, take a peek you’ll be surprised.
Brian and I rented a car through EuroCar; here presented our first
challenge, getting the bicycle into a Fiat Panda. I’d never even
heard of a Fiat Panda but it is an adorable, boxy, purple car and
it most certainly does not have room 128 pounds of luggage and a
bicycle shipping box. We took the disassembled bike out of the
shipping box and viola! Everything fit! One of the EuroCar
attendants helped Brian find a trash bin for the enormous cardboard
box. So far not much different from our usual cruising travels;
land, ditch trash, continue exploring! But now that we’ve moved,
what about the blog? How will you continue to explore with us? Keep
following our ventures at the new blog site! http://sailingdetour.com/ We’ve moved from Rode Trip and now as we prepare for Sailing Detour, we’ll still be
exploring, and learning, and thinking of you every step of the
way!

I’d never leave you hanging ‘By the Numbers’…and so the story of Rode Trip and Rode Trippers continues!

When we’d paused, Rode Trip had been hauled from the water in Deltaville, VA and had undergone a mini-makeover to prepare her for prospective buyers. We’d set the price just right, and provided a thorough advertisement hoping that we’d not wait long for the right buyer to emerge. Fascinating people come along when you try to sell things. We received some interesting offers for Rode Trip and here are two of my favorites:
1. An email that read simply, “too little, too slow, too deep, too old to enjoy the $ spending.” I’m sorry, were you actually interested in our boat? I just couldn’t tell from your enthusiastic inquiry. And so, I replied, “Everything else about her is perfect!” Our email respondent replied once again with his opinion that we were asking too much money for a slow moving boat accompanied by a low-ball offer. Maybe, he should have been making offers on faster moving boats.
2. A trade was offered; 7.83 acres of land in Virginia. Interesting. We investigated the land and determined that although it was equally priced (a fair trade), the parcel had been on the market for some time and had not sold. For those interested, send us a note because this man was also willing to trade for a motorcycle or a house boat.

While a fresh coat of deck paint was still drying, we received a serious offer from a man in India with whom we’d been corresponding via email. He had a genuine interest in Westsails, and was particularly interested in Rode Trip because she was water ready. Due to the man’s current location in India, he would be unable to view Rode Trip and so we answered many questions that he had regarding the condition of the boat. He didn’t want her to slip away, and we’d had other inquiries, so he made us an offer we couldn’t refuse. Just like that Rode Trip sold! We were very fortunate to have not needed the services of a broker. We completed a Purchase Agreement with our buyer and he provided us a deposit via wire transfer. We established a final closing date that allowed time for him to make travel arrangements from India to the United States. Chapter One of our cruising lifestyle would soon come to an end. In the meanwhile, Brian and I prepared for Chapter Two to begin.

We locked Rode Trip for the last time and said our goodbyes. Then, Brian and I did what so many transitioning, adult children do; returned to our parents (temporarily) in our hometown in Pennsylvania where each set of parents had readied a guest room for us. During the next few weeks we’d visit friends, sort our belongings, tend to medical appointments, and prepare for our next big move!